The president of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, sees the commemoration of war dead as a way to teach young people the value of peace. Schneiderhan told the Rheinische Post on Volkstrauertag this Sunday that “Remembering the dead of war is important for at least two reasons. For the relatives who need to know that they are not alone in their grief. Our war graves give them a place.” The war graves are not only places of mourning. The Volksbund president continued that “They are also places where generations and nations meet.” Looking at the work of the Volksbund, he said: “We bring young people to places of history. This includes memorials, but also the war graves. We do not have to say much there, the youths quickly understand that their peers lie there who were killed for their lives.” The goal is for them to learn from what humans do to other humans. “We hope that they learn to value peace. That they resist hate and incitement because so much evil begins with that,” said Schneiderhan. Through the meeting of youths from different countries, young people will learn how history is taught and experienced in other countries. “This broadens the view of the youths. And hopefully makes them immune to empty slogans,” continued the former General of the Bundeswehr. In addition to Schneiderhan, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU), Bundesrat President Hendrik Wüst (CDU), and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen will participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Neue Wache in Berlin on Volkstrauertag.
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